


Why me?

by ectotechgodhead



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, hair dresser au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-17 09:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4661079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ectotechgodhead/pseuds/ectotechgodhead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John is a hairdresser, he had a regular customer that comes in every Tuesday at three. His name is Strider, he has incredibly soft blond hair and is very mysterious. Where did he even come from and why pick John?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry the beginning is so short. They will be slightly longer in the future I promise!

Your name is John Egbert and you're a hairdresser. A typical day at hair salon involved cleaning, washing and cutting hair. Obviously. What else would you be doing? Sometimes you wonder if you chose the right profession or not, some days you hate your job, doing the same thing every day. On the brighter side you get to experiment with different hair styles, that can be both exciting and fun!  
Today is different though. Today is the first Tuesday of this month, meaning your usual customer will be coming in at this three o'clock appointment. It is currently ten till, some people are usually early but he is usually right on the dot. 

You're finishing up drying someones hair when you hear the bell to the door chime. You look over and smile at the person, knowing exactly who it was. His name was Strider, that's all you really know about him. He never actually talks except for the small thanks before he heads out the door. Strider was a gorgeous tipper and sometimes that made all the other hairdressers jealous. It wasn't your fault that Strider picked you over everyone else. You're not even sure how you got the honor in the first place, he just came into the store one day, took one look at you and decided that you were to be his hairdresser. 

You ring your current customer out while Dave takes a seat at your station. His hair is so thick and grows so fast, you're not sure why he doesn't make an appointment earlier instead of later. His hair was swooped over to the left but right now it was more in his eyes, or, his sunglasses. The infamous sunglasses. You had problems getting him to take them off the first time he came in, and the second, and the third. It was when you accidentally chipped a piece off the sides that he finally took them off. You apologized profusely, making a promise to replace them, but he just shrugged and looked up at you. That was when you had to pause in your cutting for a moment. Striders eyes were a deep red color, you wouldn't compare them to blood that's gross. Maybe the shade of red on the coca cola bottles. Anyway, you set right to it. 

“The usual cut?” He nodded, you pull out the clippers, scissors and thinning shears. You grab your spray bottle and wet down his hair and comb it down till its completely covering his eyes. You ruffle his hair a bit, huh, was his hair always this soft? You ruffle it again. Through the mirror you see Strider smirk but he says nothing. You blush, grab the scissors and begin to chop the hair away.   
After going through his hair with the clippers and thinning shears, Strider looks back to normal. His hair is out of his eyes and the back isn't so long. You pull out the hair dryer and proceed to fluff his hair back to how it's supposed to be. You run your fingers through it and smile to yourself, you don't know how someones hair could be so soft. The drying probably seemed like it took longer than normal, and it did because you were busy playing with the softness that was Striders hair. 

Strider didn't look like he minded. He had his eyes closed and still had that smirk on his face. You finally put down the blow dryer and pull out the straight iron. Strider's hair was a bit on the curly side and preferred it straight, so out comes the straight iron. You masterfully straighten it and manage to still keep the swoop in, instead of his hair going back into his eyes. You spray holding spray onto it and ruffle his hair again, relishing in the softness. You manage to pull your hand away and you double check the sides of his hair before taking off his robe thing that keeps the hair away and dumping the blond remains onto the floor. You dust off his neck and put your hands on your hips.

“Looks like that's it, Strider.” Strider inspected his hair, nodded and followed you to the checkout counter. He handed you his card, you swiped it then handed it back. He then slapped down a twenty and made his way towards the door.

“Thanks, and by the way if you had looked at my card, the name's Dave.” He smiled at you and then left.

You smiled back as you shoved the twenty into your pocket. Dave, huh? Dave Strider. Why did that name sound familiar?


	2. The Proposal

The rest of the day went off without a hitch, seven o'clock seemed to roll around before you knew it. You had four more customers and then you were done for the day. The hours were amazing. Nine to seven every day except Sunday's and Monday's, you really couldn't have asked for anything better. It was now that you were cleaning up your station when you heard the door bell chime. You were closing so you had the store to yourself. 

“Sorry, the shops closed.” You said, not looking at the stranger. Nothing was said back so you looked up and your eyes widened, unbelieving. “Strider!” What was he doing here? He was here only four hours prior. 

“I told you, the names Dave.” Was all that he said. You didn't know what to say except mumble an apology. You both sat there staring at each other for a good while before you coughed.

“So, Dave, what are you doing here at closing?”

“I'm here to take you out to dinner.”

You face heated up and you nearly dropped your broom, fumbling with it and directing your eyes to anywhere but Dave. How could he be so blunt? How much money did this guy have, what did he do for a living? You supposed you could find out if you went to dinner, but that would be like a date and you barely even knew Dave outside of the store. 

“But I'm covered in hair.” was your lame reply back. Dave just shrugged and shoved his hands into the pockets of his black khakis. When you really look at him, he was actually pretty good looking. He was dressed in a red button down shirt with a light black jacket that only partially went down to his waist. His black khakis and black business shoes topped off the whole outfit. How seriously rich was this guy? 

“Enjoying the view? Want me to spin around?” You face heated up, probably turning a bright red at being caught staring. “For real though, dinner?”

“I...I don't know, Dave. I barely know you.”

“This is the time to get to know me then.” He said as he adjusted his jacket. “Plus I have a proposal for you. If you come to dinner, I'll tell you what it is and we'll go from there.” You sat in one of the chair and twirled around a few times, humming. 

“How do I know you're not going to murder me?”

“If I wanted to murder you, I would have already done so. Considering we are alone and you have more than enough cleaning supplies for me to clean up the mess.”

That answer only made you a bit uneasy but Dave was smirking so you assume he was completely joking. You got out of your chair and grabbed your broom.

“Why not? I mean, only because you have a proposal for me and I'm curious.” Not because Dave was a a total hottie in his outfit or anything. It was definitely the proposal. Yup. 

“Sweet. I'll be waiting for you outside.” 

“Wait, what?” You ask, looking up from your sweeping.

“We're just going down the road to the Genevieve.” 

You mouth drops, that place was only for the richest of rich people. “There is no way I can afford that, Dave.” The man only waved his hand. Was Dave paying? What did Dave do to be able to merit a visit to such a fancy place? Didn't you have to place reservations? Didn't those reservations cost money? A lot of money? Probably more money that you made in a week? “I don't know...” 

“Look, I can afford it. Trust me, plus I already made reservations.” You bit your lip and then sighed. 

“Fine, fine, just let me finish up here.” 

As you finished up you wondered how Dave knew what time you got off. It wasn't on the front of the store or anything. Maybe he looked it up online. You finished and wiped your forehead, cleaning up the store was pretty taxing sometimes. Looking down at yourself and your hair covered clothes you almost reconsider taking up Dave's offer. You didn't look fancy, you looked exactly like what you were, an underpaid hair stylist, you sigh and look into the mirror. You could at least take better care of your hair. After some products and a blow dryer you manage to make your hair look somewhat presentable again. Your hair took on the messy look, which was kind of unfortunate, because no matter what product you put into your hair, it would not stay down. 

After turning off a few lights you head out the door. True to his word, Dave was standing outside talking to someone in a black suit. He looked intimidating, huge muscles and piercing eyes that looked over his slightly cracked sunglasses to Dave. The man noticed your presence and stopped talking immediately, it wasn't like you could understand what they were saying anyway. Dave turned to you and his frown turned into a small smile. He waved a hand at the beast of a man, who was reluctant to leave but did anyway. He got into his car and stayed there, you could feel eyes on you and you shifted nervously on your feet.

“Ah, don't worry about old Equius there, he looks intimidating but in reality he's just a big teddy bear.” Yeah a teddy bear that looked like it could rip you in half. “You ready?” You nodded and Dave lead the way. You both walked side by side in silence, your brain searching for something to say. 

“So do you like your hair cut?” What the hell, really? You were going to talk about his hair? 

Dave nodded, “Yes, I do, it's nice to have it out of my face and off my neck. God, its such a pain to deal with sometimes. I mean, I'm sure you saw the aftermath on the floor.”

You nodded and smiled, “Yeah, it was pretty long. I have always wondered though, why do you wait so long to get it cut, why not earlier?”

“Time.” Dave said as he shrugged, “I don't have a whole lot of it and I can't really control my work schedule like I would like to. Plus I like for everything to have a time and place.” He stopped walking and turned to me. “Are you hungry?” He suddenly said. I blinked and shrugged. 

“Not really. I had dinner at the shop an hour ago.” 

“Good, me either, lets just get to the point then,” I blinked again, not understanding. He was just going to blow off The Genevieve reservation? “I want you to come work for me.” 

I looked back and saw a black car that I know we didn't pass before. “Are you in the mob or something?” I blurt out. Dave laughs shakes his head. 

“I'm not surprised you don't remember me. We went to the same college together for a while, we even had the same major. You were at Skaia University for acting.”

“Heh, sorry, I don't remember you. That's was quite a while ago. Though I knew your name sounded slightly familiar, that must be how I knew it. 

Dave shrugged, “Maybe.”

“So I assume you graduated?” Dave nodded, “And you became an actor?” 

“Something like that.”

“What have you been in?”

“Oh you know,” Dave shrugged, “This and that. I'll get down to business. What I'm asking for is for you to become my assistant. My personal hairdresser. Any maybe help with the other actors too. I'll pay you double the minimum wage plus you get to keep all the tips you get.”

You realize your mouth is open and immediately close it. Dave Strider, an actor, wanted you to be his personal assistant, and you were going to get paid double the minimum wage, plus tips? You should slap yourself, you have to be dreaming. Why you? 

“Why me?” was all you could get out.

“You've been my hair stylist for almost two years now. I think I can say I can trust that you know what you're doing.” Dave fished around in his coat pocket till he pulled out a card and then handed it to you. “Call me on this number with your answer, take as long as you need.” You took the card and looked it over. It had his name and number on it. “Call me whenever. Do you need a ride back to your car?” Dave pointed his thumb to the black car behind us. “I'm sure Equius would give you a ride.” Was Dave famous enough that he needed his own body guard/ driver? Why hadn't you ever seen any of his movies?

Dave was looking at you expectantly, “N-no, we aren't far from my car, I can walk.” Dave shrugged and smiled. 

“Well I hope to hear from you Mr. Egbert.” 

You wrinkled your nose at the name, “I'm not my dad, just call me John.” You quickly shoved your hand into your pocket and pulled out some cards, handing Dave one. “Here's my number if you need to get a hold of me.” Dave nodded in thanks and stuck the card into his jacket pocket. 

“Well, it was nice talking to you, John. I hope you'll accept my offer.” Dave jogged over to the black car you assume that was following you the whole time. “Until then.” Dave got in and the car drove off. 

You looked down at Dave's card and hummed, you would have to Google Dave's name later to watch some of his movies. Working for someone like Dave couldn't be all that bad. 

–

Back at home as you surfed the web trying to find a movie Dave is in your phone beeps, alerting you that you have a message. You pick it up and open the message, seeing as it was from Dave.

Dave: i dont know why you quit acting school you were a great actor

You smiled to yourself, at least someone thought so.

John: I guess it just wasn't meant to be.   
Dave: we will have to see about that  
John: :B I guess so!

You put your phone down and smiled to yourself as you continued your search for a movie with Dave in it. Maybe you choose the right career after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will update either Monday's or Wednesday's. With college I'm just not sure just yet. This chapter is uploaded early because of the great feedback I've been given :) thanks so much for the comments and kudos!
> 
> Im sorry for any mistakes, I'll edit later.


	3. The Beginning

You didn't call or text Dave for several days despite his incessant nagging via text. You're not sure why you didn't return his texts, maybe it was your indecision to get involved with Dave in the first place. Why would Dave choose you? He could have picked anyone else in the shop, he could have tried anyone else at any time, but he never strayed from you. Maybe Dave just liked normality. The same thing over and over again.  
That still doesn't explain why Dave picked you in the first place. You remember the day fairly well, he came in on a Tuesday, three o'clock. He stood at the door silently looking over each hairdresser till his eyes landed on you, they never left until he walked over, grabbed one of your business cards and turned around and left without a word. I got a call from him the next day.

\--Flashback--  
“Hello?” I answered in my usual cheery like voice.

“Hi, I'd like to request a hair trim.”

“Alright...” I said as I scribbled down 'trim' on a sticky note. “And is there anyone you would prefer?” 

“Yes. John Egbert, is it?”

“That's me, actually!” I laughed and opened up the scheduling book. “Alright, what day?” 

“How about Tuesday's at three.” I hesitated.

“Tuesday's, as in every Tuesday?”

“Tuesday's as in the first Tuesday of every month. It's the only time I really have time to be off work.” I shrugged to myself, busy man. 

“Okay, name?”

“...Strider.”  
\--End Flashback--

You lean on your broom and sigh. Your pocket buzzes and you pull it out, even though you know exactly who it is.

Dave: i can see you through the window, thinkin about me? 

Your head snaps over to the window and you see a black silhouette. Well that's creepy. You can't just tell Dave you actually were thinking of him, that would seem weird. 

John: No. Im busy working here.  
Dave: awww so you werent  
Dave: im hurt  
Dave: you should totally stop ignoring me and pick your phone back up  
Dave: at least look at it  
Dave: i cant be the only one you text  
Dave: oh my god i am arent i  
Dave: you need to get out more

After finishing up your sweeping you finally pick up your phone to see several messages from Dave. You ruffle at the last few and immediately start texting back.

John: I do in fact text other people thank you very much!  
Dave: yeah like who  
John: My friend Rose.  
Dave: does this 'rose' have a last name  
John: Yes! Lalonde. And that's totally not a fake name.  
Dave: oh I know. shes my sister.  
Dave: small world huh

You pause and re read the text. Dave and Rose were siblings? You suppose that makes sense, Rose was the top local psychologist in the area, it makes some sense that two such successful people would be related in some way. They must have different fathers, hence the different last names. How could Rose never mention Dave? Was she ashamed of him? Was he some sort of bad guy? You'd have to talk with her after work. Or now.

John: So... I didnt know Dave Strider was your brother

You don't expect a reply right away, it was the middle of the day and she was most likely busy with clients, so you pocket your phone. You look back to the window to see the silhouette gone and breath a sigh of relief. 

“Happy to see me?” You jump and twirl around to see Dave standing right behind you, arms crossed and smirking. You wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face but all you had in your hand was a broom and you're pretty sure hitting customers would get you written up or fired.

“Dave! Don't do that.” You shake your head, “Why are you even here? I'm working.” 

“Not anymore. I put in your two week notice to your boss. He said you didn't have to bother with the two weeks if you didn't have any clients and by the looks of your scheduling,” he said as he snatched the book off your work space. “you don't.” 

Dave put in your two weeks? How could your boss accept that? Was Dave's fame really that great? You didn't even find a single movie he was in last night. You throw down your broom.

“How dare you!” You shout and people were starting to stare, that was okay. They needed to see how much of a jerk his Dave Strider really was. Your boss came out of his office, observing. “I didn't accept your offer, in fact I've been pointedly ignoring you. For what reason? I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE, it was the constant flow of harassing texts and phone calls that are pushing me away. MAYBE, its because I don't know you that well. You're just some stranger who comes in every month and demands me for some unknown reason. I don't know what you're deal is with stalking me but it needs to stop. Right now, Strider.”

Dave flinched at the use of just his last name. He stayed quiet for a minute, smirk completely gone at this point. “Furthermore, I haven't given you a proper answer and I wont until I have had enough time to think about it.” You couldn't see his eyes behind his shades but his eyebrows were raised raised, letting you know that he might be shocked at your outburst. The salon was completely silent, everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the scene before them. 

Dave let out a sigh, smiled and shrugged, “So is that a yes?” 

Needless to say you kicked Dave out. He left without much protest, only saying that you could give him a ring if you change your mind. Then he was gone. You sighed and turned back around to see everyone going back to their business, your boss was smiling at you. He gave you a thumbs up before returning to his office. You sigh for the millionth time and return to cleaning up your station. It was four and you didn't have anymore clients so it was time to call it a day. As you were cleaning up you noticed something green and papery on your desk. You snatched up the twenty and threw it to the floor, stomping on it. 

“If you don't want it, I'll take it.” Your coworker, Jeannette, said to you with a small smile. You smiled back at her and picked the twenty back up and put it on her desk. You don't know how he did that, or when he had the time to but you didn't want anything from him ever. In fact you may just refuse to cut his hair anymore. Jeannette looked surprised that you actually gave her the money so you waved your hand. 

“Don't worry about it, I don't want a penny from him.” You say as you grab your bag of things and head towards your bosses office. 

“Hey boss, I'm gonna head out.” He nodded and waved you off without looking up from his book. You turned to leave but your bosses voice stopped you.

“Are you quitting?” To go work for that jerk? 

“No way”

Your boss looked up to you and smiled, “I'm glad, but you're missing out on a good opportunity.” 

You wrinkled your nose, “That guy is a jerk and I wont let him push me around. No matter how much money he offers me, I wont be leaving.” Your boss nodded and returned to his book. 

“See you tomorrow, John.” 

–  
The next day you arrived at work Dave was sitting in your chair. Your mouth dropped open and you stomped over to him. 

“Strider.” You seethed. He waved and spun around in your chair a few times before you stopped it, he let out a 'heey' and you tried looking into his eyes but the shades were in the way. His new shades by the looks of them. So you snatched them off and looked into his deep red eyes. “I don't know what you're doing here, but you need to leave. I have customers today and you're taking up my only seat.” The door chimed and you looked over to see another one of your regular customers coming in. You turned back to Dave who seemed to have reacquired his shades somehow. That just seemed to infuriate you more. 

“I want you to work for me. I canceled all your appointments for today so we could talk. Jeannette offered to take over for today.” You slapped him. The sound echoed through the store and again all eyes were on the both of you. You paid then no mind as you confronted this stupid man. 

“Listen, I told you, I need time to think about it-”

“And I'm here to persuade you. Look, if you just come and talk, we can work this out. If by the end of the talk you are still hell bent on not working with me then I'll leave you alone.” 

You pulled yourself back and gave Dave a one over which earned a smirk from Dave. Your face heated up and you crossed your arms. “Fine. If you aren't able to persuade me today, you can't come back here, ever. I wont cut your hair, no one else will either.” The smirk widened and he pulled out his hand/

“Deal.” You looked at his outstretched hand and hesitated, but you reached out and shook it anyway. 

“Deal.” Great, what have you gotten yourself into now? It better be worth it, you're losing a good bit of pay today and god knows you need the money for bills. 

–  
Dave lead you out of the store and into his car. This time his body guard, what was his name, Equarius? wasn't driving. Dave got into the drivers seat and you reluctantly got into the passengers seat. After you both buckled your seat belts- safety first- you took off down the road. It was silent for a few moments as you traveled your way to wherever it was that Dave was taking you. 

“So... where are we going?” You ask and looked over at Dave who seemed passive. 

“My work place. Well, sort of, my actual work place is in Cali, but we're here for research purposes. So you're going to kind of see what we get to do.” Great, you go from one work place to another. The rest of the ride was in silence save for the light classical music playing through the car. It was mainly violin and it was beautiful. Rose played violin, maybe that was her playing? It would seem only natural that Dave would have something like that of Rose's. You wondered if they were pretty close. They couldn't be that close or else Rose would have mentioned him a long time ago. 

We pulled into a parking lot where several camera's, lights and speakers were set up. There were several people loitering about here and there, looking seemingly indifferent and kind of cold. Dave got out and so did you, he seemed to forget all about you as he stomped his way over to the people. He looked furious. You slowly got out to hear Dave yelling something to the people, who were all now standing up and running around frantically. 

“You, get the lights, and you, are the speakers even on? No, I don't want to hear excuses I want to hear some sound. You bunch over there, where are your scripts, no, no I don't have extra's, if you forgot them you'll have to borrow someone else's or memorize them like everyone else!” 

You watched Dave go to several groups of people and yell at them. You watched for a minute before it really truly clicked. Dave wasn't an actor. Dave wasn't in charge of the sound, or in charge of lights or camera's. He was in charge of all of it. Now it made sense why you couldn't find a movie with Dave in it. 

Dave was a director.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh ho, things are about to get good!
> 
> I couldn't think of a better name than Jeanette. It was going to be Jean but I wanted the coworker to be a girl. So Jeanette. Kinda lame but its a cute name none the less.  
> I also planned to publish this tomorrow but I'm busy tomorrow so expect updates to be on either Tuesday's or Wednesday's. It just depends on when I get the chapter done.


End file.
